1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network management program, network management system and network management apparatus that manage a system in which multiple managed devices and multiple managing apparatuses that manage these managed devices are interconnected over a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, systems in which multiple managed devices such as printers, copiers and scanners are interconnected over a network such as a LAN with multiple managing apparatuses that managing these managed devices, such as servers and personal computers, in a local area such as an office, building or factory (hereinafter ‘network systems’) have become increasingly popular. If such a network system is built on a small scale, it is sufficient if there is only one managing apparatus (‘network management utility’) on the network. However, if the network system is large in size, because it is difficult to manage all of the managed devices with one managing apparatus, multiple managing apparatuses are disposed on a single network.
In a network system in which multiple managed devices are managed by multiple managing apparatuses in this fashion, where the network, such as a LAN, is built to cover a large area (across different locations that are located at a substantial distance from one another), for example, it is difficult to determine which managing apparatus is managing which managed devices. As a result, it may become unclear which managing apparatus is managing a given managed device, or a given managed device may be subject to management by more than one managing apparatus, creating an undesirable burden on the network. Therefore, in this type of network system, in order to properly manage each managed device so as to avoid duplicative management, means that specifies a managing apparatus (a device that performs management) to manage each managed device is required.